140 



1 proceeded as far into the interior as circumstances would permit, 

 and spent a part of two days most delightfully. Among the birds 

 I observed during my rambles were the Common Blackbird {Merula 

 vulgaris, Ray), the Robin {Erythaca rubecula. Swains.), and the 

 Black-cap Warbler ( Curruca atricapilla, Bechst.), — a more southern 

 locality, I believe, than has been hitherto recorded against these spe- 

 cies. The fishes of this island also claimed a portion of my atten- 

 tion, several species of which I procured and preserved. 



" We crossed the equator on the 7th of July, having been more 

 than twenty days within the tropics, part of which time our vessel lay 

 becalmed. This portion of the ocean's surface was also inhabited by 

 Storra-Petrels, but of a distinct species from any I had hitherto ob- 

 served, and which I believe to be new to science. These birds, with 

 now and then a solitary Rhynchops and Frigate Bird ( Tachypctes), 

 were all of the feathered race that I observed in these heated lati- 

 tudes, a part of the voyage which always hangs heavily upon those 

 destined to visit these distant regions ; by me, however, it was not 

 so much felt, the monotony being relieved by the occasional occur- 

 rence of a whale, whose huge body rolled lazily by ; by a shoal of 

 porpoises, who sometimes perform most amusing evolutions, throw- 

 ing themselves completely out of the water, or gliding through it 

 with astonishing velocity ; or by the occasional flight of the beautiful 

 Flying Fish, when endeavouring to escape from the impetuous rush 

 of the Bonito or Albacore. 



'' On the 20th of July we reached the 26th degree of south lati- 

 tude, and were visited for the first time by the Cape-Petrel {Procel- 

 laria Capensis of authors). On the 23rd, lat. 31° 10' S., long. 24° 

 W., we found ourselves in seas literally teeming with the feathered 

 race. Independently of an abundance of Cape-Petrels, two other 

 species and three kinds of Albatrosses were observed around us. 

 The latter were Diomedea exulans, D. chlororhyncJm, and D.fuli- 

 ginosa. A few days after this we commenced running down our 

 longitude, and from this time until we reached the shores of Van 

 Diemen's Land, several species of this family {ProcellaridcB) were 

 daily in company with the ship. Whenever a favourable opportunity 

 offered, Captain McKellar obligingly allowed me the use of a boat, 

 and by this means enabled me to collect nearly all the species of this 

 interesting family that we fell in with. 



" As I had every reason to expect, I found the Australian seas 

 inhabited by their own peculiar Storm-Petrels ( Thalassidroma), four 

 distinct species of which I have already observed since leaving the 

 Cape. 



" From the westerly winds which prevail in the southern hemi- 

 sphere, between the latitudes 35° and 55°, I am induced to believe 

 that a perpetual migration is carried on by several of the members 

 of this oceanic family continually passing from west to east, and cir- 

 cumnavigating this portion of the globe. This remark more par- 

 ticularly refers to the Albatrosses, Prions, and other large kinds of 

 Petrels ; the same individuals of several of these species having been 

 observed to follow our ship for some thousands of miles. Until I 



